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The Texas Rangers announced today the signing of free agents Charlie Culberson, Tim Dillard, Elier Hernandez, Sal Mendez, Collin Wiles and Jesus Linarez to minor league deals.
The most significant player in this group is Culberson, who is also the only one of these six to get an invite to the major league training camp. Culberson was a supplemental first round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants all the way back in 2007. He had a cup of coffee with the Giants in 2012, then was traded to the Colorado Rockies for Marco Scutaro. Culberson spent time in the majors with the Rockies in 2013 and 2014, then missed 2015 with a back injury. He was released, signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, spent a little time with them in the majors in 2016 and 2017, was sent to Atlanta in the Matt Kemp trade, and has been with the Atlanta Braves the past three seasons, though he only had 7 plate appearances in 9 games last year.
Culberson is a righthanded hitter who has played every position in the majors except center field and catcher. He offers versatility, though with just a 684 OPS in his career. He will presumably be infield depth and a possible bench candidate this spring.
The other five signees are minor league depth, and all but Hernandez were in the Rangers system last year.